YUM! Is really all that can be said about this one. Anyone who has been to the popular restaurant, Chuck's Fish will understand my excitement when I say that I have come pretty darn close to a copy cat of their special "Uptown Shrimp". And the funny part is, that part of this meal was an after-thought/ add on once I had already decided upon making the Sushi Shrimp Stack (click link to see part one of this blog) as our meal. I had purchased some shrimp earlier this week- it was $5.99/lb FRESH! Who passes that up???? So Shrimp it was for dinner. I was looking at the shrimp stack and trying to decide what to pair with it. Suddenly it hit me- shrimp that goes with sushi... I'm going to re-create Chuck's Uptown shrimp.
Just to preface, I had absolutely no clue how to recreate this. I simply racked my brain for my best memory of the taste and consistency, also consulted my friends who love the dish too, and this is what I came up with. I figured out that it's basically tempura fried shrimp with a spicy eel sauce. My eel sauce didn't turn out just like theirs, but I was still thrilled with the results.
Ingredients:
- 1/2 lb shrimp- peeled, tails off
- 1 cup flour
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 egg
- 1/2 cup Ice water
- 1 cup cold sparkling water or tonic water
- 1/4 cup corn meal (for dredging)
- vegetable/ peanut oil for frying
- 1/2 cup soy sauce
- 1/2 cup white sugar
- 1/2 mirin (sweet sake)
- sriracha to taste ( I didn't have sriracha so I substituted some sweet chili sauce- but I think the sriracha is really going to be the key)
1.) I suggest making the sauce first. Combine soy sauce, sugar, mirin, and sriracha in small sauce pan and bring to a boil- stirring/whisking constantly. It's almost the same process as making a cake glaze or a simply syrup. It will cook for 3-5 minutes or until it reduces. It will still appear thin and runny, but you'll notice it sticking to your spoon/whisk. When this stage is reached, take off heat and set aside. It will thicken as it cools.
2.) If you're feeling fancy and want to multi-cook you can go ahead and heat up the oil and begin the tempura batter: Whisk together the flour, salt, ice water, cold sparking water, and egg until combined. you may have a few lumps, but that's ok, it's just the nature of a batter.
3.) Once the oil has reached about 350 degrees, dip the shrimp in the corn meal first, then lightly dip the shrimp in the tempura batter. Immediately drop shrimp into hot oil. I suggest doing only 2-3 at a time at first so you can see how fast they cook and don't get distracted. Remove from oil with a slotted spoon or mesh strained when golden brown and set on paper towel covered plate. Continue until all shrimp are cooked.
4.) Place shrimp into a medium sized bowl. Lightly drizzle a little of the syrup/sauce over the shrimp and toss until shrimp are covered, but not soaked in sauce- this makes sure the shrimp retains it's crunchiness.
5.) Now you can have fun plating the shrimp and feel free to dress up with sesame seeds, chives, sriracha mayonnaise etc! Don't forget to visit my other post with the sushi shrimp stack for the perfect pair to this dish! enjoy!!!
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